Trek to the Other Side
by QuickStrike15
Summary: The Ronin Warriors decide to take their fight directly to the Dynasty, but how they will they get there? And if they do, what will be in store for them? Third in a series.


Trek to the Other Side  
  
Written by  
QuickStrike15  
(TieanBrice@aol.com)  
  
Darkness surrounds the area. Nothing but black everywhere you look. The five Ronin Warriors appear in the darkness, surrounded by their own individual spotlights.  
RYO: "What's going on here?"  
KENTO: "Ryo, you there?"  
RYO: "Yeah, right here. Where are you?"  
KENTO: "I'm here too, but I can't see a thing!"  
CYE: "I can hear you, guys!"  
RYO: "Cye! Where are you?"  
CYE: "Wish I knew. But all I can see is me!"  
KENTO: "Same here, dude! Somebody's messing with our heads!"  
SAGE: "Wish we knew who."  
KENTO: "Sage! I guess Rowen's gotta be around here somewhere, too."  
ROWEN: "You'd be right on that bet."  
RYO: "What is up here? Everything's pitch black except for us, and we can't see each other. What's the trip?"  
A familiar voice chimes in. "This is simply a lesson I need to impart."  
RYO: "Wait a second, that sounds like The Ancient!" The Ancient appears before each Ronin Warrior separately.  
KENTO: "It can't be! The Ancient's been gone since we first stormed Talpa's!"  
ROWEN: "But he's appeared in our dreams after that. Remember, Kento? That's why we all split up to find ourselves. You, Cye and Sage got captured by the Dark Warlords, and I met Lady Kayura under Talpa's control."  
KENTO: "That's right!"  
RYO: "So, Ancient, why have you brought us here? What lesson is it we need now?"  
THE ANCIENT: "You must find another way to defeat your new enemy."  
ROWEN: "You're not kidding. Even with the Armor of Inferno, we barely survived one Dark Warlord."  
THE ANCIENT: "In order to conquer your enemies, you must unite, but come together differently."  
RYO: "What does that mean? I don't understand."  
THE ANCIENT: "You can only find that out when the time comes. But the only way you'll decipher it is with the hint you just received."  
SAGE: "You've really got to help us out here, Ancient. We had no idea Talpa had a shadow form. Does it have a weakness, like Talpa did?"  
THE ANCIENT: "I can not give information on what's new in your world, only what's already been. I only exist within your hearts now, and that is how I can communicate. My lesson to you is to unite in a new way, one like never before. It's the only way to save the mortal realm, and the friends that don't reside there." He begins to fade.  
RYO: "Ancient, wait!" He vanishes.  
  
***  
  
Ryo wakes up, in a cold sweat.  
RYO: "What happened? Was that all a dream?" The other four burst into his room.  
ROWEN: "Just checking, but did anybody dream about The Ancient last night?"  
SAGE: "You better believe it."  
CYE: "It was so strange. He told us that we have to unite in a new way, but we couldn't even see each other."  
ROWEN: "Maybe that means we're not united yet."  
KENTO: "We've got to be united. That was the only way for us to beat Talpa, and to form the white armor."  
SAGE: "Kento's right. The Ancient said we have to unite differently to beat Aplat and the new Dark Warlords."  
CYE: "And it's the only way to save Kayura, Sekhmet, Kale and Dais."  
RYO: "But The Ancient also said we wouldn't understand things until the time came. So for now, let's go over things with Mia, see if she's found out anything new."  
ROWEN: "Sounds good."  
  
***  
  
The Ronin Warriors enter Mia's office, where she is still diligently examining things on the computer.  
RYO: "Any new developments, Mia?"  
MIA: "Maybe. According to what I've found in my grandfather's file, we can use the Jewel of Life in tandem with The Ancient's staff to open a portal to the nether realm."  
RYO: "All right! We'll be able to cross over!"  
SAGE: "Wait a sec, Ryo. She said in tandem with The Ancient's staff, and that we don't have. It belongs to Kayura."  
RYO: "Man, that's right. Now what?"  
MIA: "I wouldn't bother telling you this if I didn't have a game plan. The file says that we can use the Jewel of Life to convey a thought across the divide, and use its power to change one small event in the other world. I'm guessing that if all of us can focus enough psychic energy into the jewel, it will be able to free Kayura, and give her one clear shot at the staff. It's just like when Talpa captured you and the others in his towers."  
RYO: "Yeah. I couldn't move a muscle, but when Yuli charged up the tower with the Jewel of Life, suddenly I was free of Talpa's bonds."  
KENTO: "This could really work!"  
CYE: "Let's give it our best shot!" Rowen grabs the jewel from a shelf in the office.  
ROWEN: "This little baby's got quite a lot of power." Ryo takes it from him.  
RYO: "And we're using that power to free our friends!"  
  
***  
  
The Ronin Warriors return to the city, with Mia and Yuli.  
RYO: "All right, if this is gonna work, it's gonna work here."  
MIA: "Let's try it." Mia puts the Jewel of Life around her neck. "Join hands." Everyone takes the hand of the person standing next to them, and stand in a circle, with their eyes closed. "Jewel of Life, awaken your powers." Nothing happens. Kento opens one eye.  
KENTO: "Uh, is it supposed to do that?" Mia's eyes remain closed.  
MIA: "We have to give it time. The magic in this jewel hasn't been used in years." Sage opens one eye to Kento.  
SAGE: "Yeah. Just have patience. We can get it to work."  
KENTO: "All right." He closes his eyes again.  
MIA: "Please, Jewel of Life, awaken your ancient powers, to help us save precious life." They wait a few seconds, and the jewel glows. "It's working! Jewel of Life, hear my call!" The jewel then spins wildly on its lace.  
YULI: "Yeah, that's the power! That's the power that freed Ryo!"  
MIA: "Make our wish true! Free Kayura's from Aplat's control, and lead her to The Ancient's staff!" The jewel gives a sound of compliance, then stops spinning. Shortly after, the glow fades.  
RYO: "So, did it work?"  
MIA: "I certainly hope so. We won't know until Kayura contacts us. Once she gets her hands on the staff, she'll send us a message. The jewel will command it."  
CYE: "That's one powerful little thing, even through Aplat's domination of the nether realm."  
RYO: "So, we wait. It'll be tough, but I can handle it." Rowen puts a hand on his shoulder.  
ROWEN: "We're trying our best for them, Ryo, that's all we can do."  
RYO: "Thanks, Rowen. I needed that."  
"I know what you need! Your Ronin hides whooped!"  
RYO: "Who's that?!" Everyone looks up, and sees a Dark Warlord.  
"It is I, Stryke-Saber! Now, didn't Aplat tell you not to appear in this city again?"  
SAGE: "We don't need to deal with the Dynasty right now, guy! So why don't you go on home before we beat you like we beat Boransa!"  
STRYKE-SABER: "Boransa's nothing compared to me! I am an expert swordsman, and I happen to know the secret of Black Blaze! He carries the soul swords of fervor, meaning you can't fight me with your full power!"  
RYO: "Darn, he figured it out! Now what do we do?"  
STRYKE-SABER: "Now, you die! Dynasty soldiers!" Suddenly, dozens of gold-armored soldiers appear. "Destroy the Ronin Warriors!"  
RYO: "Mia, Yuli, get to safety! We'll hold these boneheads off!"  
MIA: "Okay. Come on, Yuli!" Mia grabs Yuli's wrist and leads him away from the battle at hand.  
RYO: "This time, I'm really mad, Stryke-Saber, so you'd better watch out!"  
STRYKE-SABER: "I'm shaking in my boots!"  
RYO: "Armor of Wildfire, Tao-Jin!"  
SAGE: "Armor of Halo, Tao-Chi!"  
CYE: "Armor of Torrent, Tao-Shin!"  
KENTO: "Armor of Hardrock, Tao-Gi!"  
ROWEN: "Armor of Strata, Tao-Inoki!" They don their armor, and draw their weapons.  
RYO: "Let's show these metalheads what Ronin Warriors really look like this time around!" The five charge their enemies.  
ROWEN: "Let me show you guys a new trick I learned!" The Dynasty soldiers look confused. Rowen draws five arrows, and shoots them directly over his head. The arrows fly up, turn around, and start descent right in front of him. "You might want to close your eyes." When the arrows hit the ground, they form a golden wall of energy that decimates the Dynasty soldiers. "Yeah, I knew that would look good."  
KENTO: "Hey, guys, keep your eye on the birdie!" Kento unhinges his staff, and the soldiers stare at the end of it. Kento begins spinning it around in front of their faces, then proceeds to whack them over the head with it. Once every one is down, he reassembles his staff. "Told you to keep your eye on it." He spins the staff over his head. "Iron Rock Crusher!" He blows their unconscious bodies to bits.  
CYE: "I'm gonna open you up like soup cans!" Cye goes to work, and pokes several soldiers in the chest with his spear. He then keeps one unfortunate soldier on the end of it, and slams him into other incoming enemies. He then lets him go, and sends him flying into a pile of them.  
SAGE: "As you may recall, my power seeks wisdom! And between the lot of you, I'm guessing there's enough mental energy to darken a shadow!" As they scratch their heads, Sage slips underneath their defenses, and slice a gaggle of them in half. "Sad, really. They never had a chance."  
RYO: "All of you guys had better get out of my way! My fight's with Stryke-Saber!" The soldiers don't back down. "You asked for it!" Ryo fuses his katana hilts, and jumps into the air. "Flare Up, Now!" He comes down, and launches a white-hot energy wave which forces the remaining soldiers to explode on contact with it. Ryo lands on the rooftop on one knee, and unbonds his katana hilts.  
STRYKE-SABER: "Impressive, but not intimidating."  
RYO: "I've got way more than that to intimidate you with."  
STRYKE-SABER: "Try me, Ronin weasel!" He draws his swords.  
RYO: "Bring it on!" They lock their blades.  
STRYKE-SABER: "You couldn't beat Boransa alone, and I'm stronger than him, so what makes you think I'll be defeated so easily?"  
RYO: "We weren't aware of Aplat's power the first time, but we've had a taste, and we have good motivation to stop your plans now!"  
STRYKE-SABER: "Ah, yes, those friends of yours in our world. I'll have to notify master Aplat, so he can go ahead and dispose of them!"  
RYO: "No!" Ryo's armor begins to glow.  
STRYKE-SABER: "Hey, what's going on?" He tries to restrain Ryo, but pulls back when he touches him. "Your armor...it's burning up!"  
RYO: "You've made me really mad!" He punches Stryke-Saber in the gut, and steam erupts from the hit.  
STRYKE-SABER: "Guess what...you've made me mad, too!" He grabs Ryo's helmet, despite the intense heat, and rips it off. It falls to the ground near the others.  
ROWEN: "That's Ryo's helmet!"  
SAGE: "Looks like's he's gonna need help!"  
KENTO: "Let's hurry up there!" The four rush up the building to Ryo.  
STRYKE-SABER: "If I can't touch your armor, I'll just strike where there isn't any!" He tries to slice Ryo's neck, but he dodges the blade.  
RYO: "Yeah, right, like it'd be that easy!"  
STRYKE-SABER: "You can't last much longer against me! And even if you could miraculously destroy me, Aplat would find out and have your friends eliminated!"  
RYO: "Don't you ever talk about my friends that way!" Ryo throws his katana blades down, and tackles Stryke-Saber.  
STRYKE-SABER: "Please!" He easily throws Ryo off of him, and stands. "You stand no chance, you pest! Aplat will destroy you, your friends, and rebuild the mortal realm as he sees fit!" He lifts his sword, and brings it down fast. Ryo shuts his eyes, when his blade makes contact with something. "What?"  
SAGE: "My advice--don't try that again." Sage holds his sword in front of Ryo's face.  
STRYKE-SABER: "I was so close!"  
ROWEN: "And yet, so far away." From Stryke-Saber's left, Rowen clocks him in the face, where the warlord wasn't looking. He drops the sword and falls over, just shy of the building's edge.  
CYE: "You all right, Ryo?"  
RYO: "Yeah, now that you're here." Kento helps him up.  
SAGE: "We thought you might like this back." Sage hands Ryo his helmet.  
RYO: "Thanks." He replaces it. "Now for you, Stryke-Saber!"  
STRYKE-SABER: "No one treats me like that! I am a Dark Warlord! And as such, I can cause you incredible pain!" Before they can see, he picks up both of his swords, and leaps into the air. "Now you'll see my true power!" He glows with energy, and multicolor wings form behind him. "Winged Angel of Death!"  
RYO: "Guys, get down!" Stryke-Saber swoops like a flash, and the warriors barely have time to duck. He just misses them.  
STRYKE-SABER: "Oh, don't tell me the Ronin Warriors became afraid of me all of a sudden!"  
KENTO: "Say one more word and we're recycling you into aluminum siding!"  
STRYKE-SABER: "What have I told you? You haven't won anything at all! I'm still more powerful than you, and your friends will still pay the ultimate price for your actions against the Dynasty! It's so perfect I could cry!" Just then, a large, shadowy figure leaps out, and tackles Stryke-Saber. He is pushed off the roof, and falls to the ground.  
RYO: "Whoa! What was that?" Ryo stares, and is able to make out the form. "White Blaze!" White Blaze roars in response. Ryo rushes over, and gives him a hug. "How have you been, buddy? And how'd you get here? I know they didn't just let you go, now did they?"  
STRYKE-SABER: "Fools!" The Ronin Warriors look over the roof. "I'm going to inform master Aplat of your crimes. Then your friends on our side are done for! Ha, ha, ha!" In a flash of lightning, he disappears.  
RYO: "No! They're goners! We failed!" Just then, a vision appears in the sky.  
KAYURA: "Ronin Warriors?"  
RYO: "It's Kayura!"  
KAYURA: "I understand that it was you who used the Jewel of Life to free me from Aplat."  
RYO: "Yes, we did. But we don't have time now, Kayura. The five of us just battled with one of the Dark Warlords, and he's about to inform Aplat. Once Aplat knows we fought against him past warning, he'll get rid of you guys over there! You have to hurry, and use The Ancient's Staff in order to open a portal there, so we can come to the nether realm and help you evict Aplat!"  
KAYURA: "Well, I'll do my best."  
RYO: "I'll go get Mia. Hang on." He sheds his armor, and leaps off the rooftop. Mia and Yuli come out of hiding just in time. "We've got to hurry, Mia!" Ryo grabs Mia's wrist in one hand, and Yuli's in the other. He then scales the building with nimble leaps. They land on the rooftop within seconds.  
MIA: "Kayura, all you need do is summon your power into the staff. The Jewel of Life will be able to handle everything else."  
KAYURA: "As you wish." She closes her eyes, and grips the staff tightly.  
MIA: "Jewel of Life, give us the power we need! Use the magics of The Ancient clan, and disassemble the barrier between worlds, so that five young men may preserve life in both." The jewel glows, and spins around wildly. After that, the rings on The Ancient's staff also start spinning wildly. After a matter of seconds, a flash of white light erupts, and a swirling red portal appears.  
RYO: "That's it! It worked! We can cross over!"  
KAYURA: "I'm glad. I have the other Ronin Warriors with me now. We will wait for your arrival."  
RYO: "We'll be there to help in no time." As Ryo turns to Mia and Yuli, the other four shed their armor. "We're leaving now, but don't worry, we'll keep in contact through The Ancient's staff. After we beat Aplat and his nether goons, we'll be back, and everything will finally be back to normal."  
MIA: "I wish you all good luck."  
YULI: "Come back safely, okay, Ryo?"  
RYO: "You got it, Yuli." He winks to the boy, and turns back around. "All right, Ronin Warriors, here we go!" The five warriors and White Blaze slowly step through the swirling red portal. After all six forms are through, the portal dissipates.  
KAYURA: "I'll take good care of them while they're here." Her image disappears.  
YULI: "Now what, Mia?"  
MIA: "Now we wait, and hope our friends can perform a miracle." 


End file.
